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Show INTERVIEW: Alva Matheson and Inez Cooper Page 1 M: I doubt if there are any children left under twelve years of age who understand more than parts of their own language, to say nothing of speaking it. I've tried to encourage them repeatedly to speak their own language to each other. It is my belief that with the passing of the older generation, their language will be completely dead. I regret this because I think it is interesting and amusing listening to their soft melodious chatter to each other. A portion of the Indian heritage- and a portion of the Indian heritage will be gone. C: Did the young people learn any of the Indian dances or rituals that you know of? M: In talking to these older Indians, I would say no. The younger Indians just don't know any of the old dances or any of the traditions pertaining to them. The Bear Dance is one of the most noted Indian dances and I asked Jimmie Pete about that, to describe it and what the meaning was. He said it started up around Mount Nebo. There was a bunch of the Indians there, living there. Two of the young braves went up to the mountains in the fall, hunting. They didn't have any success in particular, but they found a bear cave after the bears had hibernated. One Indian told the other one to go back to the camp and stay there and not tell where he was. He was going to stay there and live with the bears. Well, he persuaded the younger one to go back, all right, then he crawled |
